“I quit,” Rheagan said as she wiped her tears. She turned to storm out but paused when she got to the door to look at him once more. “You’ll regret not picking me.”
Many women had told him that before, and sometimes Nikos questioned if that would be the case, but this time, there was no doubt in his mind that he wouldn’t regret it. The only regret he had was starting their relationship in the first place.
C H A P T E R
38
HONEY GIGGLED WHILE SHE LAY ON THE COUCH IN HER APARTMENT. Music played in the background as she ran her fingers through Nikos’s hair, who lay on top of her with his head buried in her chest and his arms wrapped around her waist. They had been relaxing like this for the past two hours ever since Kai left with Olivia to stay at his cousin’s place for the night. Two wine glasses were on the table with a bottle of her favorite wine half empty on the side.
“You’re so childish,” Honey said, laughing.
“It feels good to relax,” Nikos said, nestling his head more as if he belonged there. Sometimes, Nikos acted just like a child, reminding her that he was two years younger than her.But she would never admit to him that she thought it was cute sometimes.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” she warned.
“Why not when I’m sleeping over anyway?” he asked.
Honey rolled her eyes. “Why would you be sleeping over?”
“Kai isn’t here,” he replied, “and those are my designated days to sleep over.”
Honey snorted. “You practically sleep over every night.”
Every night, Nikos would make his way here, whether it was dropping her off back home after work or coming over on his own, but most nights he would come if he wasn’t busy. Usually, she wouldn’t be comfortable with a man spending the night at her place too much, and she definitely wouldn’t allow them to spend the night when Kai was there, but with Nikos, it was different. Kai was comfortable around Nikos and liked it when he spent the night. Often, they would watch movies together and play games.
“I do,” Nikos admitted, chuckling as he dropped his head on her lap. “I might as well move in.”
“There’s no space for you here,” Honey said, half-joking, half-serious. Her apartment was small with just enough space for herself and her son.
“That’s why you should move into my place.”
Honey rolled her eyes, not believing they were having this conversation that felt half-joking and half-hypothetical. They just started whatever this was, and there was no way they were moving into either of each other’s places.
“What?” Nikos said, catching her eye roll as he sat up. “At my place, Kai can have all the space he needs to run around. You’ll never have to worry about hearing complaints again.”
Because she had an eight-year-old hyperactive son, she had gotten used to hearing the complaints from her neighbors, whether it was her neighbors downstairs who complained about the stomping and jumping or her neighbors next door who complained about the noise because of the paper-thin walls.
“You’ll have all the space to cook for me,” Nikos continued, and Honey laughed.
“For you?” she exclaimed, laughing at the thought.
“Yep, and of course, space to dance,” Nikos said before he grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Will you be my private dancer?”
Honey erupted in laughter as Nikos grinned at her, his blue eyes alight with mischief.
“I can’t even tell if you’re being serious or not,” Honey said, shaking her head.
“I’ll be serious if you want me to be,” he said while looking into her eyes, causing her laughter to sober instantly as she stared back at him, realizing that he was indeed serious. Slowly, her heart began to beat louder in her chest, thumping enough that she could feel it.
Before she could reply, his phone rang. Nikos looked at her for a second longer before he pulled his phone out of his pocket, and Honey saw Christos’s name before Nikos answered it.
“I’ll be right back,” Nikos told her before he got up and disappeared into the back. Honey was left to her own thoughts, wondering how she should respond to that.
Even though they weren’t necessarily official or serious, at times, it felt like their relationship was going at the speed of light in the way it hadn’t been with other men that she had been in serious relationships with, because everything between them felt so easy and natural. She was never uncomfortable with him in the way she had been with her other lovers, never cautiousof him with her son, never worried about placing boundaries. It made it so that she hadn’t even reacted in the way she would have with another, which would have been an easy no. Their relationship was so new. There was no need for them to move in together, and yet, the idea of it didn’t bother her in the way it should have.
She mused over it longer, listening to the music from the speaker and nursing her wine when she heard a knock on her door. Honey sighed, grabbing the remote to pause the music as she stood and walked over to the front door. She wondered if her neighbors had heard it again through her paper-thin walls. It was late after all. Maybe she should accept Nikos’s offer, just to avoid annoying things like this. She couldn’t count the countless times her neighbors had knocked on her door to complain.
Sighing, she opened her door, ready to give the usual spiel she did for moments like this but froze when she saw who was behind the door. Her heart nearly lurched out of her chest as her stomach dropped like she was going down on a roller coaster ride.
